THEY came to make money. Any which way they could. Some came through agents, by pawning their mother's gold and some were smuggled in across the Gulf waters. They came on fragile promises, clutching at anything that signalled a Gulf job—their passport to a secure future.
But the sands have run out for an estimated 40,000 of them as the United Arab Emirates puts illegal immigrants on a 90-day amnesty and promises severe penalties, including 10 years in jail, for those who do not avail of this final opportunity to quit the country. Equally harsh penalties will be levied on those who aid, abet or protect and give refuge to aliens.
The deadline: October 1. According to Brigadier Abdullah Ahmed Al Shamsi, director-general of Ajman Police, illegals can get up to three years in jail and a fine of Rs 3 lakh whereas those actively engaged in promoting human traffic will face 15 years in prison and a fine of Rs 10 lakh.
So far, a relatively benign Emirates has turned an indulgent eye to the influx, seeing in it a certain lubrication of an expat and a local society enjoying a colonial comfort with houseboys, maids, gardeners available for the asking. But, the residue from the highly successful shopping festival in 1995 in which visas were given freely cracked the patience. Hospitality was abused.
Too many 'shoppers' stayed on and added to the already growing fear that undocumented foreigners were fuelling criminal activities. Moonlighting in multiple jobs, they engaged in theft and burglary to augment slashed salaries because employers exploited their illegal status and saved a few bucks. And because they were illegal, their thefts went unreported—the employers, especially those whose domestic help had done the dirty work, didn't dare call the police in case they were asked why they had sheltered illegals.
Once unheard of, rape, kidnapping, assault and robbery do occur and the official effort seems to be to kill the malevolent growth before it becomes uncontrollable. Police records indicate that as many as 25,000 Asians have slunk in illegally since 1994 and now roam the Emirates where the population hovers at around two million.
Illegals have been spawned in five basic crucibles. Being a profitable commodity, they found enough of those who desired to organise their influx into a paying business.
People were smuggled into the country in dhows and launches across the coast and then given directions to the cities and left to their own devices. No pagers, no passports, no proof of their nationality. They now live in the shadows, coming out to do spot work in restaurants, construction companies, as casual 'pick up truck' labour, repairmen, tea boys and gardeners.
Others have come on genuine visas but then discovered that their relationship with their sponsors was not anywhere near what had been promised by the matchmaking job agents. Disenchanted by living conditions and whittled paypackets, they learn the ropes from old timers (three yearsand more) and go on the run, leaving behind their passports with sponsors and carrying labour cards that stand them in good stead when they are checked by plain clothed police officers.
Occasionally, they do get caught and face deportation but it is a risk they are willing to take. Some have shown enough dexterity to avoid the traps for as long as 10 years.
The third contribution is from those who come on visit and transit visas and decide to stay on. They disappear into labour camps and city streets. Many of them make a photocopy of their passport and sell the original to the highest bidder—the black-market in Indian passports is flourishing.
The fourth way is to work legally, then ask for one's passport to go on leave to the home country, spend a month or two, come back to the UAE and do the vanishing act. Sponsors register complaints, print photographs of absconders in the papers but catching them is not easy.
The most poignant are those victimised by a mythical concept called the 'free visa'. Through convention, the non-existent free visa has almost became semi-official. People come in on a residence visa given to them by a local for which they pay anything upwards of Rs 50,000 for two or three years. Then the sum is paid again for its renewal. The local sponsor or 'arbap' has no use for the person so he allows him to make his living as a houseboy or cleaner or whatever, having made his money on the annual fee. There never has been such a thing as a free visa and the government has cracked down as hard on its own people as it has on expats.
Come October, everyone must work only for his sponsor or face a stiff jail sentence. This decision has to be welcomed because it stops the exploitative racket. Even then, all this subterfuge may have been tolerated if it had stayed user friendly. The local police have been quite accommodating and humane these past years, even understanding. But then the malignancy began to set in. Those with passports to sell or 'loan' gave them at a price to a system that resold them to others waiting to come in. After all, with visas already stamped on the passport, a 14-day transit guest could find himself a viable document. Indian passports with common names like Kumar and Mohan and Kutty had a higher premium.
Homesickness has also played a role. As undocumented Indians fell prey to adversity and received news of death and illness, marriage and property wars from the homefront, the need to go home became paramount. They either surrendered to the police or hired passports with pictures of people that looked like them. Often enough, they caught a flight home.
IN other related scenarios, these rent-a-passports were used to send back relatives in what became a family cycle. The belief that any document ranging from a driver's licence to a college degree can be bought for a price is widely held. Local authorities have been surprised to see deported Indians turning up two weeks later with new passports. Occasionally, some official recognises the newly arrived 'first-timer'.
So what led to the crackdown? The answers are simple. The game had gone too far. And the illegals were taxing the system. They fell ill, needed hospitalisation, they died, they were injured in accidents yet no one was accountable for them. At the Indian Consulate in Dubai, as disconsolate Indians queue up in hundreds each morning, the key word is still 'accountability'.
Despite the double edge of good intentions, red tape and an acceptable confusion arising from an absence of precedent, the present situation has the diplomatic hierarchy burning more than just midnight oil. They are on a short fuse, are short staffed and hold the short end of the stick. Technically, how are people without passports proven to be Indians? No one really knows and the ho-hum method of writing home for a police checkup is inadequate. By the time the local constable comes up with the relevant document, the amnesty will be over. That is Consul General Prabhu Dayal's major worry. He has requested the authorities to extend the deadline.
While the consulate in Dubai is working very hard to handle the morning queues, public tempers are frayed and every delay brings about indictments against Indian envoys. An uncharitable letter in a local daily advised the Indian consul-general to stop attending press conferences and instead pay attention to the problems of the work force. That the consulate cannot handle the intensifying flow or so easily clear up the complex cases is ignored even by New Delhi. On this issue, the usually pompous consulate is doing everything it can. Air-India has confirmed special amnesty flights at Rs 8,000 a ticket for these reluctant citizens to fly home. Regional Manager Arun Burman believes more flights might be needed as the deadline approaches.
Air Lanka, PIA and Bangladesh Biman have also been advised to confirm that those illegals who are being given air tickets entered the country legally. This exercise is aimed at isolating those smuggled in so that they can be questioned on the routes they took and how they were helped.
Even as the exodus begins it is being evaluated how the departure of so many Indians, Pakistanis, Lankans, Filipinos and Bangladeshis will affect the social fabric especially since everyone will be afraid to hire a worker who does not have a visa. The availability of domestic servants will . dry up, bringing for the sahibs and mem-sahibs of expat land a distinct depression.
Restaurants will lose their cleaners and dishwashers and construction sites their improvised labour. The pleasures of using . easily available porters, load lifters, painters, freelance pest controllers, tailors, upholsterers and nannies and nurses will be drastically reduced.
People believe that once all the dubious - debris has been cleared, the stateless ones will also be targeted. After the second phase - of the operation, there will be a leniency towards those who have 'bought' visas and are working with the tacit permission of - their sponsor. There is no guarantee that . will happen. For now, the goldbricked road to Oz is more than a rough one.
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